Emerald Cutting Advice For Green Tourmaline And Rubellite

Tourmaline is a mineral family that includes many species. Elbaite is one of the most common. This beautiful specimen shows pink and green color zoning. “Bi-Colored Elbaite Gem” by greyloch is licensed under CC By-SA 2.0

Question

Answer

Make sure you keep the end facets on the pavilion as steep as possible. 70° is good. Even if the tourmaline stone doesn’t have a dark C axis, it tends to look black in the finished gem. Keeping them steep minimizes this.